(Reuters) - The red-hot San Antonio Spurs raced to a big early lead and coasted to a 114-99 road win over the injury-riddled Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center Thursday.

The Southwest division-leading Spurs (24-10) won eight of nine consecutive road games to wrap up their longest road trip and have won 12 of their past 13.

San Antonio shot brilliantly during a 19-1 run in the first quarter to open up a 26-7 lead.

"It was great to get the win," Spurs forward Tim Duncan told reporters. "It was important to start the game the right way, and we did that. We were happy with the outcome."

Six Spurs players, including all five starters, scored in double digits led by DeJuan Blair's 28 points and 12 rebounds. Duncan added 18 points and Tony Parker had 16 with 12 assists.

"I don't know what got into me," said Blair, who matched his career best for points. "All-Star break coming up, maybe. I was pretty aggressive. It was fun. A lot of fun.

"We wanted to come out and set the tone. They came off a loss last night and we were coming off a huge loss. We wanted to hit, hit, hit them first."

The Nuggets (18-17) were missing their top two scorers, Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson, due to ankle sprains.

In their absence Corey Brewer led the Nuggets with 23 points and Andre Miller added 20.

"We have some work to do. I think they know that," said Nuggets coach Wayne Karl. "I think they will continue to be a hard-working, committed team."

San Antonio led by as many as 28 points in the second quarter and held a 65-39 advantage at halftime. Denver pulled within 12 points in the fourth.

(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario; Editing by Peter Rutherford)